Greatmacscott

I always heard that statement as "the rich get richer and the poor get pregnant." Increases the government subsidies.

It’s KC Marble Show Time The first marblists checked in to the Hotel today. The hotel has 72 individual rooms reserved under out block. The show on Sunday has 52 dealer table rented. Commemorative marble boxes are put together with thirteen marbles for our thirteenth consecutive year. Marble Crazy at the Moon is ready for Friday and Saturday marble making Kansas City is Marble Crazy this weekend. Who is joining us?

thought I would share some that I have. These are cage style

I wondered how it would display. Thanks Bob.

A Few More for show

Guest Room Rate goes up Sunday evening. Looks like it is going to be a great weekend for the marble weekend in KC. Looks forward to connecting with old friends, new friends, and future friends.

Yes it has. The hotel agreed to keep it open through the 29th. They usually limit the block availability to accommodate spring soccer tournaments. When I talked to then on Friday, they weren't aware of any tournaments scheduled for the first week end in March so the graciously agreed to extend the room block. As the Sales manager said, they would "rather have marble collectors in their rooms than twelve to sixteen year old soccer players". I guess we tip better in the hotel bar.

Only a week left for reserving rooms at the marble club block rate. When you call the hotel be sure to tell them you are with the marble show. As of Friday, we had 54 individual reservations made for 128 room nights. For the KC Marble Club, room nights are an important stat because what we pay for the conference room is on a sliding scale determined by the number of room nights in our block of room.

Less than a Month until the Kansas City Marble Show We are expecting another great turnout. Room trading starts as early as Wednesday and gets into full swing on Friday and Saturday. Marble making demos on Friday and Saturday at Moon Marble Company. On Sunday, March 6 - The largest marble show in the Missouri or Kansas. Held at the Holiday Inn at 8787 Reeder Road, Overland Park, Kansas. Hotel Information: Holiday Inn and Suites - Hotel rooms in the club block are still available. So far we are covering three floors at the hotel. For room reservations, call the hotel at 913.888.8440 and mention the marble club to get the rate. The room block closes February 22. The show room on Sunday, March 6th has 50 tables that will be filed with marbles and marble related items. The last two years we have needed to create a waiting list for table. Reserve your table not to beat the waiting list. Cost of the table is at $40.00 for an eight foot table. If you need a table at the show on Sunday, email [email protected] Any questions, concerns or suggestions, email [email protected] For information on Marble Crazy at the Moon, go to http://www.moonmarble.com Who is coming to KC? The song says it all (sing along) - Going to Kansas City, Kansas City Here I come. The got some crazy little marbles there and I'm going to get me some...

Love the pictures. That first one is a dapper looking young man. I am sure he is ready to knuckle down. In the second picture he has definitely outgrown marbles. there are girls in that picture and no self respecting agate pusher would be caught dead hanging out with girls (yuk, cooties, ) thanks for sharing.

Sometimes it is hard to tell which side of the table needs rounded up.

they are tooth pick holders. I would guess the blue one is older and the amber one is a reproduction, or newer.

The Kansas City Marble Collector’s Club is hosting a marble identification day for the public at the January club meeting. Meeting Time: 1:00 – 3:00 pm Meeting Date: Saturday, January 16, 2016 Meeting Location: Moon Marble Company, 600 Front Street, Bonner Springs, Kansas 66021 We will be discussing the plans for the March Marble show. Bring some marble to share. See marbles being made. Questions? Contact Scott at [email protected]

I salt the rock garden in front of my house with clearies and cat eye marbles. The grandkids love the adventure of "mining" marbles in Grandpa's rock piles.

I wish I had learned the art of selling marbles. I have only been able to do it a few times and regret and remorse are often felt. It is easier to send my kids out on their own than let lose of my marbles. I have decided my marbles are more like my grandkids. It will be hard letting them go when they grow up. The step is admitting I have a problem, so - Yes, I am a marble hoarder. I have my first marble I was given as a 6 year old. Help!!!

Table rates: If you reserve and pay for your 2016 tables before January 31, 2016 Pay the 2015 rate = $35. Per table After January 31, the table rate increases to $40.00 to cover increased costs at the hotel. To reserve your table, contact Charles Williams [email protected] For hotel reservation, contact Overland Park Holiday Inn at 913.888.8440. The Block of room is open. Be sure to mention the Kansas city marble club. For other questions or comments about the 2016 Marble Collectors Club Show, contact Scott McBride [email protected].

Wonder what the seller would think the whole train is worth? I think this is from one of the Davis's

very tasty

Thanks Ray. Such fun facts!

Gino will be missed. I was fortunate enough to interview him a couple of years ago about his marble playing days and participating in the Ottawa VFW tournaments. Seems like a good time to share his story: 1952 Ottawa, Illinois VFW Marble Tournament The Best Marble Players Were from St. Columba School, Ottawa, Illinois When today’s marble collectors think of Ottawa, Illinois, the Peltier Glass Company jumps to mind. The Peltier Company manufactured marbles from 1924 through 2002. But for the boy’s of Ottawa, Saturday, May 10, 1952, took on a different marble memory. The City of Ottawa’s Recreation Department hosted a city wide tournament sponsored by the local Kiwanis Club and as part of the National VFW Marble program. Marble playing replaced marble making as the focus of the marble world at in Ottawa, Illinois that day. Twenty boys, champions and runner-ups in school tournaments, represented the best marble players from ten schools. The boys gathered at the softball diamond at Norris Park to see who the best marble shooter in Ottawa was. The game was ringer, with 13 marbles in the ring. When you knocked a marble out of the ring and your shooter stayed in the ring, the shooter scored a point and got to shoot again. The first player to knock seven marbles out of the ring won the match. Of the 20 boys that qualified for city tournament, 17 showed up at Norris Park on Saturday morning to compete. The tournament was single elimination with one game to decide the winner of each match. The goal was to be the first boy to knock seven marbles out of the ring and keep your shooter inside the ring after the last shot. That determined the winner of each game. After four rounds of play, the championship came down to two boys from St. Columba school, Gino Biffany, a 7th grader, and Bob Weber, an 8th grader. Weber and Biffany had played for the St. Columba school championship. Weber won the school championship by defeating Biffany. In the Ottawa city championship game, Bob Weber dominated the ring with a final score of 7-0. Biffany got two shots in the game. Weber received the Gold Medal, Biffany the silver medal and the Bronze Medal went to Williams for his third place finish. When interviewed for this story, Gino shared his memories of playing marbles and of that specific tournament 60 years ago this year. Growing up, Gino and his friends played marbles before and after school and at recess and lunch time. The preferred games were ringer, described above and potsy. Potsy was a game where the players used their heel to create a shallow hole in the ground then the players took turns shooting at the hole. If your marble went into the hole you won the marbles put up for the prize pot. If no one’s marble went in, the shooter with the marble closest to the hole won. Gino carried his marbles with him in a sock instead of a regular marble bag. His favorite shooter was an 11/16 inch Peltier Tiger marble. Growing up, Gino remembers playing in two city tournaments. The tournaments used a ten foot diameter ring and that was bigger than what he and his friends played with at school and in their back yards. The size of the ring meant he had to shoot farther than he was used to. The playground marble games were played on five to six foot circles drawn in the playground dirt. From the 1952 tournament, he remembers that Bob “beat him bad”. Bob had the ability to put “English” on his shooter which allowed it to stick, even back up in the ring for his next shot. Gino had not mastered that skill yet. From the scores reported in the Ottawa Republican Times, Bob beat everyone badly. He also remembers his brother tried to coach him on his shots by standing across the ring and telling him when he had his shot lined up. It was during his marble playing days that Gino became interested in collecting marbles as well. He was fascinated with the colors and designs of the marbles made by Peltier Glass Company in his home town, including his favorite Tiger shooter. One of his memories is now slanted by his marble collecting experiences. He remembers that Peltier provided the target marbles for the tournament and the tournament officials had “Big Value” boxes of marbles for use in the tournament. They emptied out the boxes then threw the boxes away. Those original “Big Value” boxes are cherished by today’s marble collectors. In collecting marbles today, Gino specializes in Peltier marbles and is considered a leading authority on Peltier’s marbles.

Reg’lar Fellers was a newspaper comic strip from the 20s-40s. It is great to see you got the cards that went with it as well.

Hey Ray, How many marbles did you make to end up with the "movie star"? Did the movie crew have a stand in case the "lead eyeball" drank too much the night before? Did you get a listing in the movie credits? It is a fun fact. Scott

Still a fun marble.

That is very cool and interesting. A quick search on "occupied Japan" marking would date the marble roughly between 1946 and 1953 (per Gothenburg.com and a couple other sites) It makes me wonder if the so called "California Sulphides" are...

Two of his baseball cards tell of his winning the marble championship, 1956 and 1958 (topps)